**4.2. Edward Wotton**

Wotton9 was the son of a theologian who did general studies at Oxford and studied medicine and Greek at Padua (1524-6). He was a practicing physician who published *De* 

<sup>8</sup> *b*. 1517, Soultière, near Cerans, France; *d*. April 1564, Paris, France.

<sup>9</sup> *b.* 1492, Oxford, England; *d.* 5 October 1555, London, England.

When Whales Became Mammals:

The Scientific Journey of Cetaceans From Fish to Mammals in the History of Science 11

*Differentiis Animalium Libri Decem* (1552), probably the first published book on natural history of the Renaissance. This was a 10-part ("books") treatise that followed the classification structure by Aristotle while adding some comments from Pliny. In Book 8 (pp. 171-173) he placed *Cete* together with fishes because of the medium they inhabit. Except for entomology he did not conduct any original observations on animals nor include any

The list of cetacean species included *Delphino* (dolphins), *Phocaena* (porpoises), *Balaena* (mysticete whales), *Orca* (either the bottlenose dolphin or the killer whale) and *Physeter* (the

Rondelet**10** was the son of a drug and spice merchant. He studied medicine at the University of Montpellier, one of the best medical schools in Europe at that time. While in Paris he studied anatomy under Johannes Guinther, who also taught Vesalius. Rondelet would later become Professor of medicine and Chancellor at Montpellier (Keller 1975). He probably acquired his interest in ichthyology at a young age while living in Montpellier (about 12 km from the coast) because his family owned a farm that was a stopping place for carts of fish from the Mediterranean (Oppenheimer 1936). During his trips as personal physician to Francois Cardinal Tournon (who was also the patron of Belon) to the Atlantic coasts of France, he became acquainted with the whaling industry. Rondelet met several contemporary ichthyologists while in Rome (1549-1550) such as Belon, Hippolyto Salviani, and Ulyssis Aldronvandi (Gudger 1934). Guillaume Pellicer, Bishop of Montpellier, who was also interested in fishes but never published on ichthyology, may have influenced

He enjoyed dissecting and did so frequently for both teaching and research purposes. He published *Libri de Piscibus Marinis in quibus verae Piscium effigies expressae sunt* (1554) with a second part titled *Universae Aquatilium Historiae pars altera* (1555) about both marine and freshwater animals. Both were later translated into French as *L'histoire entière des poissons*

After writing about food, habitat, morphology, and physiology, he described 145 freshwater and 190 marine species that included at least seven species of cetaceans: *delphino* (common dolphin), *phocaena* (porpoise), *tursione* (bottlenose dolphin, although the illustration more resembles a porpoise), *balaena vulgo* and *balaena vera* (two different species of mysticetes whose true identities are difficult to ascertain), *orca* (killer whale), and *physetere* (sperm whale) (Fig. 2). He also included among cetaceans the *priste* (sawfish) and mythical animals such as Pliny's *scolopendra cetacea*, the *monstruo leonino* (a lion covered with scales and with a human face), the *pisce monachi habitu* (a fish that looks like a monk), and the *pisce Episcopi habitu* (a fish that looks like a bishop) of which he was skeptic. All together his book contained more species than previous published works. Each species description included

<sup>10</sup> *b*. 27 September 1507, Montpellier, France; *d*. 30 July 1566, Réalmont, Tarn, France

illustrations. His contemporaries noted his lack of originality (Nutton 1985).

sperm whale).

**4.3. Guillaume Rondelet** 

Rondelet (Oppenheimer 1936, Dulieu, 1966).

(1558, 599), a monograph for teaching purposes.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

(e) (f)

**Figure 1.** Illustrations of marine mammals by Belon (1551): (a) and (b) are representations of the common dolphin (*Delphinus delphis*); (c) a porpoise (*Phocaena phocaena*); (d) a bottlenose dolphin (*Tursiops truncatus*, although he uses the name of "Orca") presumably giving birth; (e) the skull of a dolphin; (f) a porpoise fetus in a placenta, showing that he had actually dissected these animals.

*Differentiis Animalium Libri Decem* (1552), probably the first published book on natural history of the Renaissance. This was a 10-part ("books") treatise that followed the classification structure by Aristotle while adding some comments from Pliny. In Book 8 (pp. 171-173) he placed *Cete* together with fishes because of the medium they inhabit. Except for entomology he did not conduct any original observations on animals nor include any illustrations. His contemporaries noted his lack of originality (Nutton 1985).

The list of cetacean species included *Delphino* (dolphins), *Phocaena* (porpoises), *Balaena* (mysticete whales), *Orca* (either the bottlenose dolphin or the killer whale) and *Physeter* (the sperm whale).
